Federal prosecutors say charges against an MIT professor accused of hiding his ties to China should be dropped, reports Reuters.
Gang Chen could be the latest in a long line of bungled cases filed by the feds under the China Initiative launched by then-President Trump and continued by President Biden.
The final decision on whether to drop the case is up to the Department of Justice and is expected to be made in the coming weeks.
Authorities arrested Chen one year ago on a complaint of wire fraud, failing to file a foreign bank account report (FBAR), and making a false statement in a tax return.
Other MIT faculty backed Chen and accused the DOJ of vilifying normal research.
“I remain optimistic that DOJ will be making the right decision. And this is not the only case,” said Jeremy Wu, founder of APA Justice to the South China Morning Post.
As reported by AsAmNews, there has only been one successful conviction under the China Initiative out of 77 cases, according to Rep Judy Chu (D-CA).
RELATED: Civil rights groups decry China Initiative
“International collaboration is part of the antidote in competing with China,” said Mark Cohen, a senior fellow with Berkeley Centre for Law and Technology, to the Post. “If we chill it down too much, it will hurt our ability to deal with this emerging challenge. I believe it has already.”
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